Growth mechanism of highly ordered oriented films of copper(II)phthalocyanine on solid substrates

Thin films of functional organic compound, copper phthalocyanine (Cu-Pc), a re fabricated on the (001) surfaces of alkali halides (NaCl, KCl and KBr) a nd tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) by physical vapor deposition (PVD) techniqu e. Dependence of sizes and distances between adjacent crystallites on subst rate temperatures is evaluated from morphological observation by scanning e lectron microscope to determine the activation energies for crystal growth and surface migration of molecules. Increasing substrate temperature, the s ize and distance corresponding to the growth and diffusion rates, respectiv ely, tend to increase. Particularly in the case of Cu-Pe on alkali halides, plate and tetrahedral crystals having different molecular orientations wit h respect to the surface appear depending on the kind of substrates and dep osition conditions.